Thursday, September 18, 2014

Good news folks, we get our grant money TOMORROW! Well, I don't because I have to send it home and wait for my parents to deposit it because *surprise surprise* Greylock doesn't have a branch down here. I'm SO excited to get to work on solidifying the (travel) details of this project. I thought for this blog post I'd give you all a look at my time line for organizing the travel portion of my project.

1. Call Fellowship Travel: Tiffany Cummings (the director of Int'l Studies here) had them come to a dinner we had and talk about their business. They offer discounted flights for students, specifically those traveling for humanitarian reasons. They also act as a full travel agency so if I get stuck in Timbuktu (more like Istanbul, but anyways) I'll have them to get me home.

2. Vaccines! I'll need to make an appointment at Walgreen's to get my vaccinations for the trip. I need; Yellow
fever, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis A, meningococcal, polio, and typhoid (I believe I already have Hep B and the meningitis ones, but I'll have to check). I also need to ask about anti-malaria medication.

3. Plane Ticket: After I talk to Fellowship travel I'll be able to book my plane ticket :)

5. Visa: I can apply for my visa once I have my proof of Yellow Fever Vaccine and my travel dates set.

I'm beyond excited for this trip AND I just found out that 1) my school may be running a trip this summer to Tanzania and 2) my dance professors are going to Denmark in July for a conference and we're invited to go with them.

Also, for those who are concerned with the Ebola outbreak, there is still no warnings or advisories in Burkina or Turkey (which is where I'm flying into): http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/ebola-west-africa.html